Hybrid Mail Solution
Introduction
Cheshire East Council, the local authority of the borough of Cheshire East in the UK, is responsible for over 380,000 citizens and is the third largest unitary authority in the North West next to Manchester and Liverpool. These volumes require an efficient communication distribution solution. Cheshire East Revenues and Benefits Services are based at Macclesfield Town Hall and Delamere House, Crewe, and have a number of homeworkers located across the borough and surrounding areas.
Cheshire East was managing communications in-house and utilised an outsourced print supplier. The local authority wanted to consolidate processes to create a cost effective and efficient solution. Cheshire East therefore looked for an outsourced solution to distribute the non-transactional ad-hoc customer communications of their Revenues and Benefits services. A flexible solution needed to be put in place that would enable both office based staff, as well as those who worked remotely across the borough and from home, to create and distribute their documents with ease.
To find the right partner, the local authority went to tender through the Crown Commercial Service RM 6017 framework. The framework provides postal and communication solutions for the public sector.
Read on to discover how Prime Document won the framework tender and delivered a solution for Cheshire East Council.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Business: Cheshire East Council
Location: Cheshire, UK
Size: 1,000+ staff
Activity: Local authority
Challenge
Delivering the communications of the Revenues and Benefits service in an efficient and cost effective way.
Solution
Utilising the ease and reliability of Prime Document’s hybrid mail solution.
Benefits
A more cost effective, stable and reliable communication process for the Revenues and Benefits team.
Challenge
Cheshire East Council staff printed and posted over 1,300 ad-hoc letters per month and needed a solution that allowed their Revenues and Benefits service to streamline this manually intensive task and didn’t involve contacting an outsourced print supplier every time.
The council also required the solution to be more cost effective than managing the tasks themselves. Distribution processes and maintaining printing equipment can be costly and time consuming tasks. Tasks that no longer need to be costly and time consuming when a hybrid mail solution exists.
This is why Cheshire East went to tender.
Our Solution
When sourcing a communication partner, local authorities utilise the Crown Commercial Service RM6017 framework. The RM 6017 framework existed to help local authorities find the right accredited partner. As an accredited supplier of the RM 6017 framework, Prime Document was able to respond to Cheshire East’s tender and detail our hybrid mail expertise.
Within the tender we presented our hybrid mail experience. From detailing an implementation plan, to pricing to the internal employee training. Cheshire East reviewed the tenders and awarded Prime Document the bid, meaning that our partnership could begin.
After our hybrid mail implementation, Cheshire East could benefit from the communication and admin changes. No longer did the local authority have to suffer time delays. The team were able to manage the processes themselves. This meant creating mail-merges and distributing communications more effectively.
What it’s like working with Prime Document
“Following a successful tender exercise Prime Document was the preferred supplier to help Revenues and Benefits services strengthen their resilience by offering Cheshire East an established and reliable hybrid mail solution. We have developed a strong working relationship with Prime Document during a difficult period, implementing the contract during COVID and developing bespoke functionality for Cheshire East i.e. Signed For, etc.”
Cheshire East Council
Benefits
Cheshire East Council sought a hybrid mail solution to make print and post cost savings. Using Prime Document’s hybrid mail solution, the local authority now sends more documents and benefits from the set-up of a new Signed For service, all in a more cost effective way.
The local authority’s hybrid mail solution also proved highly beneficial during the pandemic. Hybrid mail created a communication process, accessible from home, without any interruptions. Meaning that the local authority could issue ad-hoc mailings in an efficient manner.
Overall, Cheshire East has saved 15% on postage costs and can see that the team are using the service 40% more than the previous set-up. This shows how effective the hybrid mail solution has been for the local authority. The team can use it with ease and have the confidence of a reliable and stable communication solution.
“Prime Document is far more customer friendly than our previous provider, allowing us to utilise the product more and achieve greater savings.”
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